Snap-rings are commonly used to hold components of mechanical devices together. Often such snap-rings are mounted within a housing or other location which is not easily accessible, and in which the free ends of the snap-ring cannot be easily seen. In such cases, it has often been considered necessary to engage in various time consuming disassembly steps having the sole purpose of facilitating access to the free ends of the snap-ring. An example wherein time consuming disassembly steps are required merely to gain access to the free ends of a snap-ring involves the removal of the viscous coupler from the mainshaft of a transfer case for a four-wheel drive vehicle. In certain four-wheel drive vehicles, the viscous coupler is held in engagement with the mainshaft by a snap-ring located in a transfer case housing. A relatively narrow access cover is provided in the housing in proximity to the free ends of the snap-ring located in the transfer case housing. While there is sufficient clearance to allow removal of the access cover without removing the transfer case from the vehicle, there is not sufficient clearance to allow a mechanic to look inside the housing through the access opening and see the free ends of the snap-ring. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult to locate and engage the free ends of the snap-ring with a pliers. A mechanic could conceivably position a mirror and light source to allow visualization of the free ends of the snap-ring, but this would be a difficult task at best, and it would further reduce the amount of clearance available for manipulation of a tool. Further, the jaws of typical snap-ring pliers extend approximately linearly from the handles, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to position the jaws of the pliers for engagement with the free ends of the snap-ring on account of the low clearance between the access opening and other vehicle components when the transfer case is properly mounted on the vehicle. Accordingly, it has been generally deemed necessary to remove the transfer case from the vehicle before attempting to spread the snap-ring in the transfer case to allow separation of the viscous coupler from the mainshaft. Removal of the transfer case from the vehicle and reinstallation thereof is a procedure which typically requires over two hours. The time actually required to remove and replace the viscous coupling, exclusive of the time required for removing and reinstalling the transfer case is typically about one hour. Therefore, if the steps of removing and reinstalling the transfer case could be eliminated, it would be possible to remove and replace the viscous coupling in approximately 1/3 of the time presently allotted for this procedure.
It is believed that there are many other examples where considerable savings in time could be achieved if it were possible to spread a snap-ring located in a position where it is difficult to see and/or engage the free ends of the snap-ring with the jaws of typical pliers. Particularly in those cases where there is insufficient clearance to allow a mechanic to manipulate a typical snap-ring pliers or see into an access opening in a housing in which the snap-ring is located, but sufficient clearance to allow the mechanic to reach the access opening.